LOS ANGELES- A licensed insurance broker-agent was arrested on three felony counts of grand theft for stealing more than $100,000 from a Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) program and more than $400,000 from other programs that his employer, DACM Project Management, aka Dugan &Associates, managed.
Arthur Cade, 60, was the employee who controlled funds for programs his employer managed, including LAUSD's rewards and recognition program, established to influence safe behavior and management on new construction sites for LAUSD.
"No matter what form insurance fraud takes, it harms insurers, consumers and California's economy," said Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones. "Thanks to the combined efforts of the Department of Insurance and the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office, we were able to stop the alleged theft from this program."
The California Department of Insurance investigation began after another employee at Dugan &Associates reviewed the program funds trust account and discovered Cade was allegedly diverting program funds to his personal account.
"Insurance fraud appears to run wild in the State of California," said California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) President Alan Barcelona. "California Department of Insurance investigators work with local district attorneys' offices in investigations, arrests, charges and prosecutions. They stay with cases, start to finish, and the guilty go to jail and are ordered to pay restitution."
Cade faces up to 12 years in state prison if convicted on all counts. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office White Collar Crime Division assisted with the investigation and is prosecuting this case.